Bystanders who confronted a woman who allegedly hurled an antisemitic slur at an under 12s Jewish netball team have been praised for speaking up by one community leader who said “such incidents occur all the time”.
It comes as the woman accused of marring the Sydney eastern suburbs’ competition has been identified as a suburban Sydney mum.
Jody Scarcella, 42, was banned by NSW Netball from attending any courts or games after police received reports of “offensive comments” during a match between Maccabi Netball Club and Saints Netball Club.
Police were called to the match at Heffron Park in Maroubra on Saturday. Officers did not arrest Scarcella but charged her with using offensive language near a school or public place.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin, who arrived at the courts shortly after the incident, said the woman had said “F— the Jews” and suggested they should be “eradicated”.
“What makes this incident unique is not the element of serious racial abuse or that it was done in a family setting in the presence of kids. Such incidents occur all the time,” Ryvchin told this masthead.
“It was unique because those directly affected by it stood up to it, took appropriate action, and held this person to account.”
Ryvchin said it was obvious that society is “becoming angrier, more polarised and more violent”.
Those who behave “appallingly” should face the consequences, he added.
“The vast majority don’t need hate speech laws or the threat of life bans to know you don’t utter racist slurs during an under 12s netball game. But those who think it’s OK, need to see that people will stand up to them and they’re not going to get away with it any longer,” he said.
“A line was drawn that morning and hopefully it now forces people to think before they speak, and it spares others from going through such an ugly experience.”
Scarcella told the Herald she did not want to comment, but said she was “scared”.
The Chifley woman is a member of the South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club, according to an annual report.
She will appear at Waverley court on June 17.
President of Maccabi Netball Club Adam Dinte called the incident “completely unacceptable”.
“We are aware of a deeply distressing antisemitic incident that occurred at a netball game today involving Jewish players and families from our club,” Dinte said in a statement to club members.
“We are taking this matter extremely seriously.
“Maccabi NSW is communicating with NSW Police and the Community Security Group [CSG]. We are also writing a formal letter of complaint to the Randwick Netball Association and the opposing club.
“Jewish players, parents, coaches, administrators and supporters have the right to participate in community sport safely and confidently, free from racism, abuse, intimidation or vilification.”
The general manager of Maccabi Australia, the umbrella body of Australian Jewish Sport, David Goldman, said the incident was “tragic and disturbing” but was not isolated.
He noted that a recent survey of 670 Maccabi members found nearly one in two respondents had either witnessed or experienced antisemitism in sport.
“This isn’t isolated to Sydney, and it’s not isolated to netball. It’s occurred across other sporting codes, and we’ve seen certainly a spike in incident since October 7,” Goldman said.
Maccabi Australia chief executive Mandy Penkin said the alleged incident was “horrifying” but “unsurprising”.
“It’s just absolutely shocking that in a country like Australia, at an under-12 netball game, that kids should not feel comfortable to play sport wearing the Jewish colours for fear of being abused,” Penkin said. “The fact that we see it pop up so often is heartbreaking.”
David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said the incident must be “swiftly investigated” and there must be no tolerance for racism and discrimination.
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